We were sitting around a bus
station in Fresno, California, pretending we had a place to go. "It smelled
like 1000 dead cigars."

We randomly asked total strangers,
"What's your favorite book." If the stranger looked particularly well washed,
we said "books."

This is what they said:

One crusty old man told us, "I love historical fiction and that may
explain my fascination for Freedom
by William Safire. The blend of well-researched historical events/people
with fictional devices made the book both informational and entertaining.
Though voluminous, it was hard to put down; you are engulfed with the drama,
characters, and passions of the Civil War period. I learnt more about American
history from this novel (Civil War period) than I ever did reading any
history text. A great book."

A bird faced young man said he like Swift
Justice by Harry Farrell. He wouldn't tell us why and he was kind of
nervous. "Read it," he said. "And you will understand."

Others said:

"Kaffir
Boy by Mark Mathabane was one of the best books I've ever read. It
details the life of a young boy growing up in South Africa during Apartheid.
The youth experiences great trials and tribulations and overcomes the odds
by receiving a tennis scholarship to a U.S. university. He goes on to become
a successful business executive. The book was tremendously inspiring, motivating,
and one of the true success stories of the 20th century."

"My favorite book is Goodbye,
Mr. Chips by James Hilton. I like it because it's melancholy, nostalgic,
sad. It's beautifully written, a quiet narrative that evokes a disappearing
past. The story focuses on a gentle man who spent his life in teaching.
He wasn't brilliant, he wasn't even an exceptional teacher. But he remembered
his students ... generations of boys, many from the same families ... who
grew to love him. And they apparently learned from him, despite themselves.
Old Mr. Chippering even rose to the rank of headmaster when World War I
drew away the younger (and more qualified) faculty members. A shy man,
he stumbled into love late in life. She died before him, leaving Mr. Chips
with regrets, but mostly happy memories to be dreamed by the fireside.
Goodbye, Mr. Chips is not a great book, perhaps. But I like it. It's
soothing. I try to read it once a year."

Peace
Is Every Step : The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life by Thich Nhat
Hanh "provides a compassionate path for living with all forms of life.
It shows how peace can be enacted within ourselves and through our daily
interactions. Thich Nhat Hanh articulates a profound understanding of the
complexities and struggles of our lives, yet challenges all of us to live
being fully aware."

"I read Les
Miserables by Victor Hugo after seeing the play in London when I studied
abroad. While I loved the play, the characters and the plot in the book
were even richer and better. It brought back fond memories of my trip and
added to my understanding of life in that time."

"The
Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerset Maugham is a powerful story of a middle-class
London stockbroker who gives up his comfortable life to pursue his desire
to paint. It is a fictional biography of artist Paul
Gauguin. Although the title character's obsession becomes somewhat
tragic, it presents the reader with a chance to fantasize about walking
away from everything (job, family, other obligations) and pursuing their
dream(s)."

"My favorite book is anything that I ever read to my children or grandchildren.
Not because of content, but because of the sharing experience. For my children,
two favorites were Borka
: The Adventures of a Goose With No Feathers and Humbert, Mr. Firkin
and the Lord Mayor of London, both by the British author/illustrator,
John Burningham." "My grandchildren prefer things like Big Black Fly
and Pish,
Posh, Said Hieronymus Bosch by Nancy Willard."

"Personally, I think Huck Finn is one of the best, along with
almost anything by Charles Dickens. He captures the flavor of Victorian
London better than any other author. As a young teenager, I was much taken
by The
Citadel by A. J. Cronin and Arrowsmith
by Sinclair Lewis. Another book that made a deep impression in my 20's
was Alistair Horne's The
Price of Glory. It's about the futility surrounding the Battle of Verdun
in World War I. When my wife and I visited that battle site some 50 years
later, vegetation still wouldn't grow in some areas because the ground
was so permeated with gunpowder residue."

"Here are my top four:

Moby
Dick by Herman Melville.
"Towering, almost Biblical work, with overwhelming narrative power
and one of the great characters in literature, the villain-hero Ahab."

The
Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene.
" A wrenching study of love and betrayal set in a backwater of Africa.
Greene's laconic but vivid writing shows him as perhaps the greatest British
prose stylist of this century."

A
Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway.
"THE great novel of love and war, and further evidence that Hemingway,
more than any other author, reshaped forever the way Americans write. (If
you're looking for literary perfection, read the opening paragraph of this
masterpiece.)"

The
Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
"Fitzgerald's portrait of the dark, sad side of the American Dream,
as revealed in the fast-money, fast-living, gin-soaked decade of the '20s."

"My best books would be different in different periods of my life. Best
Combo:Poland
by James Michner followed by Catherine,
Empress of All the Russias by Vincent Cronin. This combination covers
the struggle between Poland, at the time perhaps the greatest power in
Europe, and Russia as it was emerging as a power. Same topic from different
perspectives. Fun to read over and over:Lord
of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien. Sci-Fi:Dune series by Frank
Herbert. Book I could identify with:Moo
by Jane Smiley."

"I read The
Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom after going through a miserable divorce.
Being alone with three little boys, I was certain that I had more heartaches
and problems than anyone. As I read, it didn't take long to realize that
I had just tripped over a little pebble in the road--I had no problems
at all compared to the atrocities that took place in the concentration
camps during World War II. It changed my whole outlook on life, even to
this day. I was priveleged to hear Miss ten Boom speak at the Veterans
Auditorium in May of 1976--I will never forget that lady! She traveled
all over the world until she was in her early 80's, when she was given
a home in California... she continued to write books, I think I've read
them all! She died from complications of a stroke April 15, 1983--she had
requested no flowers, but instead a Corrie ten Boom Memorial Missionary
Fund was established."

"I think the best book I have ever read is Mila
18 by Leon Uris, the compelling story of the uprising by the Jews of
the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II. I literally couldn't put this book
down once I started reading it! The heroism and sacrifice of the people
of the Warsaw Ghetto are unforgettable and inspiring. As for my favorite
books, I like to curl up on the couch and read Excellent
Women, Jane
and Prudence or any other book written by British author Barbara Pym.
Pym, who has been called a "modern day Jane Austen," writes with gentle
humor, irony and insight about the ordinary lives of ordinary people."

100
Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez "is a moving and sometimes
heart-wrenching story of the strength of the human soul. I read it each
year."

"I have a lot of favorite books, but having to choose I say The
Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley. Bradley does a superb job
in this novel of drawing the reader into the world of the Arthurian legend
as seen through the eyes of women. The prequel (written after Mists), The
Forest House, is also a great read. Bradley is a compelling story teller."

"Besides the Bible, I consider the best book that I've ever read . .
. the one that has had the most profound impact on my life . . . to be
Beyond
Ourselves by Catherine Marshall. And I am a reader. I read all the
time, across a fairly broad spectrum of books." "If I were to make a journalism/mass
comm, magazines, "best book" choice, it would be The
Fanciest Dive by Christopher Byron! It's a fun read, and a great eye
opener to the real world of the hard realities of office/corporate politics
that exists behind the 'glamour' of working in the media. Although a book
can't prevent each of us from experiencing the pain that results from being
on the losing end of corporate politics, if any book can raise awareness
to a level that can help buffer the impact when this kind of experience
comes . . . which it almost inevitably will . . . this one could!"

"I remember when I first read Sound
and the Fury by William Faulkner I instantly felt at home with his
winding, layered manner of story-telling even though I'm not from that
far south. Later I read a biography that quoted what Faulkner was trying
to accomplish with his stream of consciousness style. He said life was
not really linear as words are on a page. He was trying to capture in each
sentence that sense of something happening (Caddie on the swing in the
opening of the book, for example) simultaneously with all the character's
thoughts and feelings and past experiences, as closely as possible to how
we experience multiple realities at the same time. So he jumbled impressions
one on top of another and tucked in experiences or observations or descriptions
parenthetically as often as he had to in order to mimic how we perceive
reality. I have always related to that and admired his effort. Plus, the
lines the title comes from are some of my favorite in Shakespeare. I guess
because, what's more compelling than a good dysfunctional family story?"

The most salient book to me today (just because I have just finished
it over the weekend), is Wild
Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang. I was prompted to read
the book in preparation for my China assignment next month, and was pleasantly
surprised. First off, this author can write. She vividly evokes China's
sights, sounds and smells to create grim yet perceptive accounts of growing
up middle class in the maelstrom that has swept China since the 1920s.
Second, this is not The
Last Emperor. The narrative is more harrowing and more gripping. Third,
it stars strong, beautiful women spanning three generations and provides
cameo roles for men. Fourth, it's no romance but a story about how a family
survived a century of disaster."